Having dealt with the "liabilities paperwork" and adorning my waterproof trousers and gaiters we were off to Chrome Hill, Tikka excitedly trotting along with us.
The first part of the walk from the cobbled parking area outside of the church is quite easy, but the slope began to steepen shortly after we reached the concessionary footpath along Hollis Farm, which was a bit worrying because I knew this was going to be slight in comparison with the main climb up the north west face.
This steep climb didn't disappoint, although the topography cruelly forced us to make a steep decent just after Stoop Farm first; presumably just to ensure that we didn't miss out on the full effect of the climb... this spots are easily seen on my heart log where my ticker reached 163bpm for brief periods.... no wonder I had to stop a few times... he he.
View on approach to Chrome Hill
The route down the far side was a little easier, aided no end by gravity. Tikka happily scooted ahead, till the end of her extended lead, which also added to my decent. I fell over backwards once on the slippery grass, the shooting pain in my left wrist left me in no doubt that next time something might give, and it wouldn't be the earth. Steve, offered to take Tikka to allow me to decent at my pace. This didn't really help because she would able ahead and turn around to each time to find a strange person behind here with the lead and would skirt back to find me with that doggy concerned look on her face.
Reaching the base of Chrome Hill, having crossed a small bridge that would normally have set her skitting to the end of her leash and in the opposite direction, she found a lovely burbling brook, which was only a few inches below bank level. Lower than her usual bowl she had to work out how to get her tongue close enough to lap, after a few failed attempts she worked out that by doing a sort of beg, with here front end laying down and rear end pointing to the stars. This had the effect of pushing her front end towards the water and nearly slipping in a few time, but she eventually managed a few tentative slurps before stepping back and resetting herself for the next attempt.
Although this point sort of marked the end of our morning walk and we should be returning to the cars, Steve was advocating that we extend our tour to Parkhouse Hill, just across the road. Now this was clearly a rather smaller hill than Chrome Hill, but it looked mighty steeper this side. A jolly group of senior walkers [grief... in a few year that'll be me!] appeared along the road from around Parkhouse Hill, 3 gents and 2 ladies; they'd clearly not fancied it either, albeit they looked like seriously experienced walkers. Thinking that I may get some support for my avoidance of Parkhouse Hill, I explained that we were debating whether to walk up it from this side. Now I should have known better; senior walkers should be *expected* to be quite feisty and bond and this one lady certainly provided that she remained quite formidable; while I can't quite remember the exact wording, but it was along the lines of "It's a bit slippery the other side but this side looks fine, we've done it before and the achievement will do you good". Steve and I looked at one another, one point to him! They trotted along after a little more banter and we were left at the foot of Parkhouse, a seasoned walker of possibly approaching senior status... oh and me...
Steve pulled out his map to show me that it wasn't such a hard walk. Now my knowledge of geography isn't great, it really isn't, but I do know that the closer the contours, the steeper the surface... the ones this side were way steeper than the other side... that was it, game set and match... I'd gladly walk along the side of hill, but I wasn't going up that face.
Steve took it well, explaining that it was my walk and he was just a conduit, or something like that, and we took off up the field around Parkhouse.
As we approached the far side of Parkhouse the slope was markedly less steep and I was persuaded to scale this area. And I'm pleased I did, for this is the scene that awaited me on the far side, which was also strangely shielded from the buffeting wind and duly time for lunch.
Walk: 4.51 miles, 3hrs 40 mins,
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